Blending Into Gray

Chapter 2

Having dropped Roman's hand, I returned to my spot by the pond, sitting down once more. Cautious still, Roman sat down a little ways away from me, sitting in the same silence that I was.

It seemed that he was just as in need of quiet space as I was at that moment.

I enjoyed that he was keeping quiet, but for me, that wasn't entirely enough.

He was feeling his emotions so strongly they were blaring like a neon sign, and they were affecting my own, as everyone's did.

Of course, it wasn't his fault, so I couldn't be mad.

Just as I was about to say something, I heard him speak.

"Do you ever, just, hate your life? Or, like, you were forced into something you don't know if you want to do, and there's no way out?"

That certainly stopped me.

"Yes," I returned, voice soft as a whisper.

He turned to face me, and likely noted the sincerity in my face. I continued.

"When you're stuck in some absolute bullshit situation, but you can't change it, can't fix it, and you're just going to be miserable - "

" - until it's over?"

He finished, a knowing look in his eyes.

I couldn't believe it. Maybe he didn't know exactly what I was going through, but he could empathize.

A funny thing, for an empath to say.

I shook my head, a small smile on my face.

"You're an interesting man, Roman."

Feeling a twinge of happiness from his direction, I noticed he had a smile on his face.

"I could say the same, Elias."

Shaking my head, I felt the beginning of laughter bubbling up from my throat. It had been some time since someone else had been able to genuinely make me laugh, and I appreciated it.

"So can you do anything?"

My question was vague, but in our world, it was a thinly veiled question.

'Do you have any abilities?'

No one without abilities is looked down on, here, but there's something remarkable about sharing your talent with others. It gives a sense of camaraderie at the most basic level, providing something to bond over.

He nodded, a slight blush on his cheeks.

He's embarrassed. Why?

"I do, uh." He raised a hand to his hair, attempting to comb it back into place, giving a slight chuckle.

"I can teleport."

I grinned.

"That's so cool!"

"But see, that's the thing. It's a little embarrassing."

I can tell.

"Oh?"

He chuckled a little.

"I can only teleport using shadows. Like, I have to start in darkness and also plan towards a destination that's in shadows too."

I thought on this. It was unusual to hear of teleportation, likely because it appeared to be rare. Even more unusual, of course, were specific types of teleportation like the one Roman described. Even so, it wasn't as embarrassing as it could have been.